UPDATED 05/06/2022: Flow and grammar should be corrected.
* * * * *
For most of the ride, it was quiet. No one was talking. They were too busy pondering on what was going to happen. If someone did speak up, it was only if they asked for a light.
Madison was sitting in between Cobb and a paratrooper that she didn't really know. For the majority of the time, she would often stare at some part of the plane and stare at it. For another part of the time, she prayed. Currently, she was leaning forward, elbows on her knees and her palms in the praying gesture, close to her face.
Dear Father, please guide us as we come closer to our mission. Please guide and protect us.
She prayed for herself. She prayed for her friends: Liebgott, Malarkey, Guarnere (even though she was still mad at him), Hoobler, Skip, Penkala, Roe, Shifty, Toye, Luz...the list went on. She prayed for the wonderful Lieutenant Winters and she prayed for Meehan, who were in different planes. She prayed for her brother and his comrades who were in the pacific. She prayed for her parents, asking God to let Matthew, Sr. and Marlene Klein to not feel the pain of losing a child. She prayed for her family, hoping that they weren't scared to death for her or Matt. She prayed for Morgan and Mikey, and everyone else back home. How were they doing?
To Madison, it felt like the aircraft was shaking her nerves like they were black spice in the pepper shaker, causing her to be even more nervous than before. The sounds of the engines didn't help her either. It all made her very...eager, for the lack of a better term.
I could be home right now, Madison thought. I could be home with Morgan and Mikey and our parents. Louise and I could still be having sleepovers. I would be graduating high school...
In the distance, Madison could hear explosions and see brief white and yellow flashes of light. If she wasn't up in the sky and not about to drop in the middle of a warzone, she would have said that it was only thunder. Too bad for her and her comrades—they were about to drop into France.
Oh, now they really were about to jump. From the corner of her eye, Madison spotted the red light flash on.
"Get ready!" Buck Compton yelled.
Oh, Lord.
Madison could feel her heart thumping hard and loud. It was so intense that Madison could feel her pulse everywhere—from her hands and to her neck.
"Hook up!"
Everyone did. Thankfully, Madison was able to hook it on herself this time. She didn't need any help, even if her hands were clammy.
"Equipment check!"
Madison reached forward to check the man in front of her—everything was fine with him. She could feel Cobb's hands all over her—and she didn't like that.
"Sound off for equipment check!"
"Twenty okay!"
"Nineteen okay!"
Madison could barely hear the paratroopers screaming out their numbers. They were getting closer to the warzone. The explosions were getting louder and you could start to see white flashes in the dark sky last longer than before.
"Thirteen okay!" Cobb yelled. Madison quickly checked the soldier in front of her.
"Twelve okay!"
Soon, Buck Compton yelled, "One okay!" And then they all had to wait anxiously for the light to turn green.
Suddenly, the plane jolted and everyone was being thrown to the side. Bursts of white light blinded the soldiers. Madison was trying really hard to not freak out at the moment. Why did she ever think that jumping out of an airplane was a good idea?
Once the plan leveled out and everyone regained their balance, Cobb yelled out, "Jesus Christ! Let's go! Let's go!"
"The light isn't green yet!" Lipton retorted.
All of a sudden, there was a white flash and glass and shrapnel broke through the windows between Cobb and Madison. Madison had gasped, feeling a few small cuts somewhere as Cobb yelled out in anguish.
"I've been hit!" Cobb cried. He was yelling and Madison and the paratrooper behind him had to help him sit down.
"Unhook him!" someone yelled and the man behind Cobb did.
The light turned green.
"Go! Go!" Everyone was suddenly moving, walking at a fast pace. One by one they were jumping out. Madison didn't get very far, however, when Compton ordered her to stop.
"Klein! Unhook yourself and move back to Cobb!"
As fast as she could, Madison unhooked herself and went over to Cobb, who was being assisted by Lipton.
"Is there anything that you can do?" Lipton asked. In the background, their comrades were jumping out of the plane and the explosions and flashes of white light were getting louder and brighter. Leave it to Madison having to help out one of the people she disliked the most as it all went down.
Madison tried to assess Cobb's wounds on his face, but it was hard to do in the dark. It was clear though: by the man's distress, the wounds were deep in his face. She doubted that Cobb could do the jump.
"No sir," Madison yelled over everything. God, it was so loud. "Judging by how deep his wounds are, sir, he shouldn't jump, sir." Oh boy, was Cobb going to kill her later for that, or what?
"I want to jump, sir!" Cobb exclaimed. "I can make the jump!"
"You can't! Your wounds are too fatal! You heard the medic!" Lipton told Cobb. He then turned to Madison. "Go, Klein! You gotta make the jump!"
Madison nodded fervently. As she got up, she almost fell back down because the plane was rocking back and forth, making it hard for anybody to stand up. Then someone grabbed her roughly and hooked her up.
"Let's go, medic! Come on! Move it!" Compton yelled at her. He was pushing her hard and she was quickly coming to the door and she was able to see everything and....
She jumped.
Well, that, or Compton had pushed her out, Madison didn't really know. But she was now out of the plane and in the night sky.
Holy Mary, Mother of God.
It was...it was something else. This was not like jumping out of the planes back in training, oh no. It was in real, live action.
Madison fervently looked around herself, as far as her own two eyes could see. First off, it was pitch black. Secondly, don't look down. When she looked down, she saw the earth that was very far away from her. She could see fires on the ground and she was hoping with all her might that she would not land in it.
When Madison looked up, she saw that the planes were getting smaller and smaller as she was getting closer and closer to the ground. All of the paratroopers around her were various sizes, depending on where she looked. She also saw fires up in the sky and debris showering all around her. Don't get hit, don't get hit, don't get hit—
It must have taken a few minutes for her to finally land on the ground. When she hit the ground, she wasted no time in tearing the parachute strings off of her, shoving them off and away. She took everything that wasn't a part of her mandatory uniform off. She reached to tear off her leg bag when she realized that it wasn't there.
"God damn it!" Madison cursed quietly, angrily throwing the ropes of the leg strings down. The leg bag must have ripped off during her jump! She didn't have too much in that thing (she did have some of her medical and food supplies in it, though), thank the Lord, but still. She was pissed about it. Whoever had the grand idea of the leg back could go fuck themselves.
Madison looked around. She didn't have much of a clue as to where she was at. And she definitely knew that most of the men on her plane weren't around here, for most of them had jumped much earlier than she.
Madison could have cried. In fact, she was actually starting to tear up. It wasn't because she was terrified out of her mind (well, maybe just a bit), but she was already frustrated and she hasn't even been here for five minutes!
Sighing, Madison decided that she needed to start moving. If she didn't, she was sure that the Germans would get to her, and she was absolutely sure that she did not want to get killed or become a prisoner of war. She gulped.
But aren't we all prisoners of war already? A deep part of Madison's mind had thought, as she started to venture out. Get moving.
* * * * *
Eventually, Madison found her way out of the woods. She found a dirt road which, thank God, helped her out a lot! She wasn't walking out on it however, as she decided to walk alongside it, still hiding in the bushes. She didn't want anyone to catch her by surprise, no matter who it was.
Madison must have been doing this for the past fifteen minutes, when she stopped her movement. She could register the scuff of gravel. Someone was nearby.
Madison hid herself in the bushes, surely enough to make some sound and fuck, the footsteps stopped.
"Flash?" A voice—a familiar voice, that was—called out. "Flash?"
Oh, God, Madison could have cried out in relief. It was one of the men, it had to be!
"Thunder! Thunder!" Madison cried out, crawling out of her hiding spot. When she stood, she found herself standing in front of two soldiers that she did not recognize and...Lipton?
"Klein?" Lipton asked.
"Sergeant Lipton?" Madison stared at the man with wide eyes. She almost couldn't believe it. But when Lipton gave her a soft grin of reassurance, Madison couldn't help but smile back.
"It's me, Klein, don't worry," Lipton informed her. "How long have you been here?"
"Half an hour?" Madison guessed. She then studied the two men that were behind Lipton. She had no idea who they were and they had no idea who was either. The three of them all stared at each other with curious expressions. "Who are these men, Sarge?"
"These men are Private McDowell and Private Olson. They're from the 82nd."
"The 82nd?" Madison repeated. "Jesus Christ, where are we?"
"We have no idea. We're far off from our DZ," Lipton answered her. "Come on, we need to find the others."
Together, the four paratroopers continued their journey. Lipton quietly filled Madison in on his own personal journey in France so far.
"You were on your own for that long?" Lipton asked her. He wanted to be sure that Madison was alright. Her face looked a little scratch up, but he couldn't exactly tell. It was too dark.
"Yes," Madison confirmed. "I didn't want anyone to find me. I—" she stopped when she heard a clicking noise. "You hear that?"
Everyone had stopped in their footsteps. "Yeah," Lipton whispered to her. They heard the clicking sound again. Lipton looked in the direction it was coming from. "It's coming from the other side. Follow me."
Together, Lipton, Madison, Olson and McDowell went through the trees. Madison saw Lipton dropped in front of her and she heard a rather loud splash. Water.
Madison followed suit, getting into the river as quietly as she could but the flashes still sounded loud. Probably because they were walking in the dead of the night and they (as in Madison) were paranoid as hell. She heard Olson and McDowell join as well.
"Lieutenant Winters? Is that you?" Lipton called out. Madison tried really hard not to get her hopes up, just in case that it wasn't him. Even so, she still couldn't help it. She really hoped it was the lieutenant that everyone loved and admired.
Two men popped out from behind the bushes and yep, it was Winters. Madison fought back a smile as she, Lipton and the two men from the 82nd ran up onto the high ground to join the others. When they all reached to the soil, Winters ordered everyone to stand down.
"Any weapon?" Winters asked Lipton.
"No, sir," like so many others, Lipton too had lost his leg bag. "All I got is a knife and some TNT."
Winters looked at Madison, almost in a hope manner. Madison shook her head.
"I'm a medic, remember? I do have plenty of medical supplies, but I lost a lot of them too. Especially the plasma."
Winters inclined his head to the McDowell and Olsen. "Who are they?"
"Olsen and McDowell. They're from the 82nd."
"The 82nd? Man, where the hell are we?" the man that was with Winters asked.
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Madison asked him.
"Private Hall, ma'am. I'm Able Company's radioman. Until I lost my radio," the man explained. He seemed taken aback to see Madison with them, but he didn't say anything else.
"I saw a sign back there, sir. It said 'Sainte-Mère-Église," Lipton said, butchering his French, to Winters. That seemed to give Winters an idea. He reached down near his crotch and pulled out...oh, it was only a battery. Wait no, a compass, Madison corrected herself. (Madison also supposed that she really couldn't say anything, seeing that she had some of her own things pocketed in her bra. Then, she realized that Winters had reached into his jacket pocket. God, what was wrong with her?)
"Flashlight," Winters requested and Lipton gave him one. "Raincoat?"
"Do you got a raincoat?" Lipton asked McDowell and Olsen.
"Yeah," Olson said. He turned around so McDowell could get it out of his pack. McDowell pulled it out and gave it to Madison, who passed it onto Winters, aiding him in putting it over his head. He turned on his flashlight and started to look at the map.
There was distant gunfire in the background, and Madison couldn't help but look around, paranoid. Please don't come near us.
Moments later, Winters turned the flashlight off and threw off the raincoat.
"We're about seven kilometers away from our objective, and four hours away from when we need to have it secure," Winters informed the group. "So, we got a lot of walking ahead of us." He gave Lipton his flashlight back. He looked at McDowell and Olson. "You men will stick with us until we find your unit. Let's go."
Everyone got up and followed Winters. She heard one of 82nd men ask Lipton where they were heading too, but she tuned them out. Especially when they called Winters a looney and voiced their doubts about Madison.
So, Madison walked alongside Hall. It didn't take too long until she heard some familiar voices talking when they had reached the train tracks.
"Flash!" Winters called out to them.
"Thunder!" the men replied immediately. Winters gestured for everyone to get out of the bushes and get on the tracks, which they did.
"Lieutenant, is that you?" Malarkey asked. Oh, it was Malarkey! As she was greeted by the others, she saw that Popeye, Toye, and Bill were with him.
At least I know for sure that some of my friends are safe, Madison mused to herself. I hope everyone else is okay, too.
"Hey, Maddie, how you doing?" Malarkey asked her.
"I'm pretty good," Madison replied. "How about you? Have you seen anyone else?"
"Nah, I haven't. Let's hope that our friends have found each other by now, yeah?"
"Klein, Malarkey, we're moving. Let's go!" Lipton ordered them. The two friends ceased their talking and joined the group. Bill and Hall were leading them. McDowell and Olson followed with Popeye and Toye behind them. Madison and Malarkey were behind them and Winters and Lipton took the rear.
Madison didn't know how long they were walking, but it wasn't too long after when they all stopped. Winters soon ran ahead from them and checked it out. He soon ran back.
"Lipton! Guarnere!" he was ordering the two men to lead. Madison guessed that it wasn't very good. Bill went to Winters as Lipton led the men down the hill.
"Klein!" Winters motioned Madison to go to him and Bill, which she obeyed.
"Stay with me," Winters ordered her. She nodded and she followed Bill down the hill too, with Winters behind her.
They soon met up with the others, who already took position. Madison and Winters went behind a brick wall while Bill blended in with the trees that were across from them. As they waited, Madison could start hearing horse hooves and the German language. It must have been a German supply run.
"Wait for my command," Winters advised.
In hindsight, Madison should have seen what was coming.
Bill, although a good friend and leader, could also be an impatient and hot headed man. He had jumped out from his position and started to fire at the Germans.
The Germans had started yelling out. "What is going on? What is happening?" Madison couldn't help but feel for them, as the rest of her friends started firing too.
As the Germans were yelling, Madison heard one of her comrades shout for a grenade. Seconds later, she heard an explosion.
"We surrender! We surrender!" one German man cried out, but it was pointless. He was shot down too. Bill didn't stop firing until all of the Germans were dead. Well, everyone except for Bill, Madison saw as she got up from her hiding spot. She saw him fire bullet after bullet. All she could do was watch him before he got reprimanded by Winters.
"That's enough, Guarnere!" Winters yelled. Bill had stopped once Winters had put his hands on him and made the man look at him. "Everyone okay?"
"Yes, sir," everyone replied.
"Next time I say, 'wait for my command' you wait for my command, Sergeant," Winters shot at Bill.
Bill stared at him with all of his anger until he said, "Yes, sir."
Next to her, Madison could see that one of the horses that the Germans had was still alive, kicking and screaming. She looked down on it, feeling sorry for it. Then a shot rang in the air, and Madison saw the life in the horse's eyes go out. She looked up to see Toye, with a handgun in hand. He was the one that had shot it. He nodded to Madison and Madison nodded back. They both knew that it was the only thing that they could do for the horse.
"Fine, Quaker," Madison heard Bill mutter under his breath. She tore her eyes away from Toye and saw that Winters had already advanced, with Bill reluctantly following.
"What's that guy's problem?" Hall asked Malarkey. Madison had to admit, she was wondering the same thing.
"Gonorrhea," Malarkey said.
"Really?" Hall asked. Madison almost forgot that Hall wasn't in Easy Company, so he wouldn't get the joke.
"His name, dummy," Malarkey said. "Guarnere. Gonorrhea. Get it?"
"Well besides having a shitty name, what's his problem?"
That was a bad move. Bill was still nearby. He was standing next to Madison and Toye, kicking at a dead German. "None of your fucking business, cowboy."
"Alright let's move out. Quietly," Lipton called out to everyone. They did as they were told but Madison stayed back with Malarkey. He noticed her expression and he finally confessed what he knew.
"I know about the fight, Maddie," Malarkey started. Madison started to feel the panic web in. Shit, did he know about the details of it?
"He only wants you to be safe, you know? We all do."
Madison nodded her head slightly. "Then what—"
"His brother got shot down in the Cassino, Maddie," Malarkey said quietly.
Oh. Oh. Well, that explained a lot. Fuck, she—
"Klein! Malarkey! Let's move it!"
Madison watched as Malarkey moved forward. She stood frozen for a moment, the information sinking in.
She felt like the world's biggest bitch.
* * *
They walked all night, not stopping for anything, unless they needed to hide. For the most part, the journey was uneventful. She stood beside Popeye in the rear of the group. Madison stayed silent for the trip, not talking to anyone. After Malarkey dropped the big revelation on her, Madison didn't feel like talking. She felt so bad for getting so angry at Bill. She knew that he was only trying to protect her but God damn it she can do this, okay?
But still, insulting her intelligence and making the crude comment about her chest was hurtful. Bill had it coming...right? Right. Yeah, he totally had it coming...
Madison inwardly sighed. Stop being so angry, she told herself. It's in the past now. Just—just what, exactly? Bill probably didn't even want her to know about his brother! Mary, mother of Christ, this was hard.
Quick, think about something else. How are your other friends doing? Did Skip and Penkala find each other? Are Roe and Shifty alright? What about Hoobs? Oh, don't forget—
After what seemed to be an eternity, the group came across a bombed out farm. Winters ordered them to get low, but Madison could still see the wreckage of the place (barely). She could see that the barn had lost part of its roof and there was a dead paratrooper in a tree nearby.
Wait, what?
Madison rubbed her eyes. Oh yeah, there was definitely a dead soldier, his corpse hanging to the tree by the cords of his parachute. He must have gotten hit on his way down. It wasn't an unusual sight, seeing paratroopers hanging in the trees, but this was the first one that Madison saw up close.
When Lipton and Popeye signaled them that it was all clear, the group advanced closer to the destroyed farm. They all stopped at the dead paratrooper. Most grimaced at the sight.
"Anybody who needs supplies or ammo, now's the time to get it." Madison didn't even notice the second dead paratrooper until she saw Lipton kneeling beside him, taking whatever he could get.
Madison stood next to Winters, who was swiftly picking the dead soldier hanging from the tree.
"Lieutenant Winters?" Madison said. Winters looked over to her. "Do you mind getting me any medical supplies that he might have?" Winters nodded and his attention went back to the soldier. Once he got himself a Thompson he quickly looked through the paratrooper's bags. He tossed her some bandages and sulfa packets.
"These were all I could find," Winters told her.
"Oh, this is good for me," Madison informed him. She had lost a good portion of bandages and sulfa when she had jumped. "Thank you, sir."
He nodded and the two walked over to the others, who were stealing supplies from...well, Madison didn't really notice any dead German soldiers until now. Maybe after this was all over, she should get some glasses. That is, if she survived.
I will survive, Madison told herself, as she slowly bent down to the body of a German soldier. This was really the first time that Madison had encountered a body and time seemed to be still.
Hesitantly, Madison turned the body over. She quickly pulled away once the soldier was on his back. His bright blue eyes were wide open. His mouth was slightly agape too. The soldier seemed to be in his early or mid twenties and even in death he seemed handsome. In a way, he looked like her brother. Matt...was he okay?
"He's fine," Madison whispered to herself. After the flash of fear left her mind, she started to look into his pockets, to see if he had anything. He did have pills of some sort, she couldn't tell what they were for. Sickness pills, maybe? They did seem familiar to her, but Madison couldn't place where.
She found more things, mainly ammo, when she saw something else. It seemed to be paper. She pulled it away from the soldier and turned it over. It wasn't paper, it was a photograph. In it, was him, a woman and a little girl who looked to be Michael's age, back in 1942. Six-years-old.
It was a picture of his family, Madison quickly realized. Suddenly, she felt sick. He was a husband and a father. He...he had a family. A family that he would never see again. Madison soon felt ashamed, as if it was her own fault that he was dead. She felt as if it was her own fault that that little girl will never get to see her papa again.
Madison found his hand. It was stiff and cold, but Madison placed his hand into hers. She brought his arm up to her forehead and quickly said a prayer. She prayed that this man was in a good place and that his family would be okay.
After she was done, she took his hand away from her forehead and his hand out of her own small one, carefully placing the photo of his little family into his palm. She had to force his fingers and bind them with a little medical tape and some of his own bandages to keep the photo in his hand. She then moved his arm so that it would lay across his chest and his hand was on his heart.
After she finished, she finally felt someone watching her. She looked up to see that it was Winters. She couldn't help but gulp.
Uh oh, am I in trouble?
Instead of scolding her, Winters just gave her a seemingly soft look of sympathy.
"Come on, Klein, we need to leave."
And that's when Madison both heard and felt the explosions.
The landings on the beach had started.
* * * * *
They passed by a group of German POWs that were being watched over an American soldier. He greeted the group, telling them that they needed to keep moving right on into town.
Madison couldn't help but stop and stare at the Germans as the group walked by. She remembered the "no prisoners of war" rule being told right before the jump. She gulped, thinking about them being executed by the hands of Americans. In a way, she felt guilty. Her father's parents were from Germany. That made her family German descendants and oh, she could have some family in the Germany military!
Stop over thinking, she told herself. It's not like you declared the war.
Yeah, but I signed up.
To be a nurse.
Well I decided to be a combat medic and jump out of airplanes!
She didn't realize she was staring at one of the prisoners until Malarkey popped next to hear. "Stop eye fucking him, will ya?" Madison couldn't help but turn beet red as the others around her laughed.
"Fuck you, Don," she hissed. "Sie verdammt dumm Kobold."
"You speak German?"
Madison and Malarkey both looked at the German soldier, the one Madison was intently staring at earlier. He was a young man with handsome features, with hair and eyes that pretty much matched the color of his own uniform. Dull.
Both Madison and Malarkey looked at him with similar, dumbfounded expressions.
"You speak English?" Madison retorted, in a somewhat astonished manner. Then she realized that he didn't have such a strong accent as she heard from others.
"Where are ya from, son?" Malarkey asked. It wasn't malicious of any sort, it was rather said in a goofy, curiosity like way. It was still somewhat demeaning, Madison could tell.
"Eugene, Oregon."
Just hearing the name "Eugene" made her miss Roe.
"Eugene, Oregon?" Malarkey repeated. "You got to be kidding me. I'm from Astoria!"
"You don't say," the German POW replied.
"Yeah, Orange Street. What gives? What are you doing in a Kraut uniform?"
"Volksdeutsche," the POW answers.
"Really?" Madison asked him. The POW nodded his head.
"What's that?" Malarkey asked.
"My family answered the call," the POW began. "All Aryans should return to the fatherland. Joined up in '41."
"Wow," Madison breathed. The POW looked back at her.
"Are you an American-German too?"
"Ja, my father's family is from Germany," Madison told him. "I'm the second generation born in the states."
"What are you doing here with the army? Women aren't usually allowed in," the POW wondered.
"My brother joined the Marines, and I signed up to be a nurse, originally. But everything got switched up and here I am," Madison told him, skipping all the details.
The German nodded. "That sounds interesting."
"Hey, Klein! Malarkey! Stop fraternizing with the enemy and get over here!"
Madison sighed, looking at Lipton who had yelled for them and then back to the POW. "I'm sorry, but I should really get going. I'm sure I have plenty of men to take care of. It was nice meeting you, though!"
And with that, Madison offered a small wave before running off into the town while Malarkey stayed behind, chatting with the young man. Perhaps in a different universe, the POW could have been friends with them.
* * * * *
"Did ya miss me, Klein?" Madison looked up to see that she had ran into Joe Liebgott, who was smirking down on her.
"Lieb!" Madison cried out happily, wrapping her arms around the lanky man. "Oh, thank God you're alright! How was your jump?"
"Great. I got to shot down a few Krauts," he grinned. "And you?"
"It went well. I found Lipton with two boys from the 82nd and we met up with Winters who had a man named Hall with him."
"So you were with that group?" Joe asked. "What took you so long to get here?"
"Oh, nothing," Madison quickly answered. She didn't want to tell him how she and Malarkey were talking to that German POW. "Have you seen anyone else?"
"I came here with Petty, Myron and Compton. Don't worry, there's a lot of us here...but also not a lot of us here. Most of the company is still out there somewhere. Don't worry, okay? I'll take you to the aid station, there's quite a few men that need to get patched up. Come on."
* * * * *
TRANSLATIONS
Sie verdammt dumm Kobold - You stupid fucking leprechaun (or goblin, which makes it even more funnier)
Klein - small (Lieb used the literal definition of Maddie's surname)